Myth or Magic: Can banana skins shine your shoes?

Yip, you heard us right. Some clever monkey (maybe it was Mash) figured out that bananas are not only prized for their beautiful yellow fruit but that their skin has a greater purpose. Since we were just about due for another quirky Myth or Magic, we decided to go bananas for the month of March. So let’s see if their skins really can shine shoes. Giddy up.

To test this kitchen myth you will need:

A bunch of not-yet-ripe bananas
Soft muslin cloth
Some willing volunteers…
…and their shoes
Your regular trusty shoe polish (because comparing is caring)
And a good sense of humour

Thina, James and Ashmore came to the party, dressed in their Sunday best – may as well put a potentially shiny shoe to good use, right? First we took some evidence of the lack lustre state of their shoes. Yep, decidedly matt.

Then we set about ridding the bananas of their contents. It’s best to use slightly green bananas for this, as their skins do not ‘shed’ as much fibrous banana matter onto your cool kicks. Why bananas you might ask? They contain potassium, which is coincidentally found in, you guessed it, shoe polish. This combined with their natural oils is said to make a winning boot buffer.

We decided to polish the left shoe with banana skins and the right shoe with shoe polish, to compare the shininess.

Check it out. Shoe polish vs banana skins.

We think the banana peels did a stellar job, without any nose-wrinkling chemical fumes. How’s that for an economiser and an environmental win? Banana skin shoe shine is most definitely magic.

Guess what else you can add a nice sheen to with banana skins? House plants, broad leafed ones, of course. Don’t go shining up your ferns folks. Over and out.